


My Favourite Tune

by that_one_Author



Category: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Genre: Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Feels, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, no spoilers for the sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23203078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_Author/pseuds/that_one_Author
Summary: Thaniel has an absolutely-not-good-very-bad day. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong, and even Thaniel’s patience runs out at some point. Now he snapped at the one person who deserves it the least.In which pianists aren’t always calm and clairvoyants do not know everything.
Relationships: Keita Mori/Thaniel Steepleton
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	My Favourite Tune

A typical morning in Filigree Street consists of the three inhabitants sitting together in the little kitchen, sipping tea or nibbling at scones while the day slowly starts to brighten the fogged streets of London. Of course, there is not much brightness to acquire, it being London in late autumn.

This morning, on the other hand, was far less peaceful than the usual calm start into the day.

It was almost eight o’clock when Thaniel stumbled into the kitchen, his shirt only half-buttoned and hair in complete disarray. After spending the night in Mori’s room both of them overslept and were only woken by Six, who had been complaining about the lack of breakfast this morning.

Thaniel didn’t want to think back to the moment he woke from his sleep only to try to desperately explain to a little girl, why he was sharing the bed with another man.They agreed upon the excuse of it being cold, so sharing body warmth was the only sensible thing to do. Thaniel wasn’t sure if she believed them or if she just thought that they were weird anyway, and therefore a waste of time to argue with.

“Tea is in the kitchen,” said Mori from his place at the piano, filling the room with his gold-tinted voice.

Thaniel was too busy trying to button his shirt, so he didn’t notice the melody filling the house with a gentle but happy tune, a pastel green mixed with dashes of pink and muted gold. It sounded like a song you would play for your children to make them fall asleep on a warm summer night.Even though Thaniel would have liked to sit down and enjoy Mori playing the piano, he was already late for work, and although Fanshaw liked him well enough, he did not particularly want to be yelled at by his boss. So he hurried into the kitchen, reaching for his cup of green tea.

  
“You should take an umbrella with you, it looks a lot like rain this morning,” called Mori from the parlour.

Thaniel glanced out of the little window in the kitchen to take a look at the sky. It didn’t look any different than it had the last four days, where not a single drop came from the sky. He already knew that the phrase “it looks like rain” from Mori really means that he knows it’s going to rain later that day, but that is just what happens when you live with a clairvoyant.

  
“Thank you. I think I will have to stay a little later today because I’m already—Shit!” instead of gripping the cup in his hands, Thaniel knocked the hot tea over, most of it spilling onto his hands.

  
This was a great start into the day. Thaniel quickly dried his hands off and tried to breathe in deeply through his nose. This was fine.  
Mori had already stopped playing, so he could look at Thaniel’s slightly red hands. He took them softly into his own to consider the damage. Even though the tea was still hot, it hadn’t been boiling, so there were no serious injuries to treat. Luckily, as Thaniel thought, because working with telegraphs or playing the piano could easily become unbearable if your hands stung with every move you made.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t even hurt,” lied Thaniel while moving his hands out of Mori’s grasp.  
“I really have to go now; I will just make tea at the office.”

He was already halfway to the train station when he noticed that he forgot his umbrella at home.

…

Coming through the door that evening was a drenching wet Thaniel, feeling like God had forsaken him.

He assumed that everyone had a bad day every once in a while, but this gruesome Friday had been a bit excessive. After oversleeping and burning his hands he was, of course, late for work. Apparently, Fanshaw also had a terrible morning, because Thaniel got yelled at even more than he expected. On top of all that the telegraph he always used in the foreign office broke after only an hour of work. A remarkable time was therefore wasted on trying to fix the unruly machine, which turned out to be a futile attempt, so Thaniel had to wait until another telegraph was available for him.

  
Of course, he forgot the umbrella Mori told him to take with him that morning, so he was drenched by one of London’s famous bad weathers. The considerable time spent waiting for the late train to arrive made sure that there wasn’t a single dry spot on him.  
So when he came into the little house on Filigree Street, not even Mori’s piano play could lift his spirits from whatever hellhole they were hiding in right now.

  
It was the same tune he was playing that morning, the soft green filling the whole room, but Thaniel was not in the mood to be mesmerized by music. He just wanted to be out of his wet clothes and have a hot cup of Mori’s tea. Maybe even a scone with some jam, he didn’t get to eat a lot that day.

  
He could hear Six rummaging through the kitchen, only realizing how late it actually was by knowing she was already home, instead of running around through the neighbourhood. Katsu had made his way over to him and tried to climb up on his leg, but Thaniel gently put him back on the ground. He was normally amazed how everything in Mori’s workshop – the people, the octopus, the clockwork birds – was alive and moving, but today he noticed just how little calm there was in the house. Everything was either flying around or running through the rooms and the background noise to Mori’s piano play was the constant whirring of little clockwork animals, humming to life around their maker.

“Good evening,” Thaniel said into the room. He put his coat and hat on the rack, slipping out of his shoes, to at least not make the whole room wet.  
“Welcome home,” answered Mori, continuing to play the piano.

Six didn’t say anything, but she rarely did, as far as Thaniel was concerned.  
“What are you playing? It’s the same song as this morning.” Thaniel walked into the room to stand next to the piano. He watched Mori’s filigree fingers dancing across the keys, creating splashes of colour. Mori turned his head slightly in Thaniel’s direction, his eyes were almost closed.  
“It’s one of yours, actually. Well, at least it is a possibility if you would stop pouting about your bad days.” Mori hadn’t said it with malicious intent, but at that time Thaniel was like a disaster waiting to happen. And Mori’s remark broke the camel’s back.

  
“Then I’m so lucky to have you, right? Already playing the bloody music for me to remember one day. Maybe that’s how I compose all of my songs. Thinking about what you have been playing every day, so I can copy your stupid music.”

  
Mori stopped playing instantly. There was nothing but a shocked silence screaming through the house, as if even the little clockwork birds had stopped flying, sensing that it wasn’t appropriate to continue. Thaniel didn’t know what he should say now. He was a person who had almost impeccable control over his temper, especially concerning the people he cared about. He had never yelled at his sister or her sons, had never raised his voice with Six. And now he had said things he didn’t mean to. Things that probably hurt Mori; his best friend and so much more. He knew he had to apologize, but he couldn’t find the right words in him.

“I—”  
“I don’t remember it anymore,” Mori interrupted the beginning of his sentence.  
“What?” Thaniel had to ask, couldn’t place the statement into context.  
“I forgot the song I was playing.”

  
Which meant that Thaniel would never write that piece. What he said made the future Mori saw so improbable that Mori couldn’t remember the tune Thaniel was supposed to write. Thaniel also could barely remember what the music sounded like. So there would be no soft greens for warm summer nights. At least not in this future.

  
“I’m sorry,” Mori said while getting up from the small chair at the piano. Thaniel thought at that moment that he had never seen the other man looking so uncomfortable.  
“Please excuse me, I…,” he seemed like he wanted to add something important, “I am going to bed early.”

He went slowly up the stairs, ducking into his room. No slammed doors, no yelled words, just the final _click_ of the door latch, showing that there would be no further conversation.

  
Thaniel kept standing next to the piano for a long time, staring at Mori’s door and thinking about what happened the minutes prior. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but the feeling refused to go away without persistently clawing at his insides.  
“Where’s Mori?” asked Six as she came out of the kitchen. Thaniel had almost forgotten about her. She probably just finished her dinner, and Thaniel hoped that she didn’t hear anything from the next room. Out of the two of them, Mori was the one who got Six out of the factory and made her life in Filigree Street possible. That meant that Six was, in turn, also very protective of Mori. So Thaniel had no doubt that he would find creepy insects or itching powder in his bed if Six heard what he said to Mori.

  
“He—He isn’t feeling well, so he went to bed,” said Thaniel. It was important not to lie to children too often, but this wasn’t even a lie, so it seemed fine.  
“Come on, petal, I will tuck you in.”  
“No, I want Mori to do it. He always does it. He reads me a story and tucks me in, so I don’t have nightmares,” she says it with the voice of a teacher, explaining to a particularly dumb student why certain things have to be done in the way they are.  
“I know, but he really isn’t feeling well,” Thaniel tries again, “so just for today, I will do it, okay?”

It wasn’t okay.

Nothing about this day was okay. So while trying to make a very non-understanding Six go to bed, Thaniel thought about where exactly the day went wrong. Until he remembered that things had already gone awry before he had woken up.

…

Deep into the night, Thaniel was still lying awake in his bed. Six had finally gone to sleep, albeit reluctantly, but for him, sleep just wouldn’t come. Tossing in his bed for hours finally became enough, so he pushed his duvet off his body. He couldn’t immediately gather the courage to go to the room next to his, so Thaniel sat on his bed, thinking about the conversation he had with Mori hours ago. The day was so full of little annoyances and bothersome moments that it didn’t even feel like one bad day. It felt more like a bad week, after which he was now unable to find sleep, on top of everything else.

  
Sighting, Thaniel got up from his bed and quietly inched along the hallway to Mori’s door. He tried to hear whether Mori was sleeping but couldn’t hear anything from the room. He didn’t know if that meant that Mori was sleeping or not.  
He gently opened the door, squinting through the darkness to see whether his landlord¬ – and whatever else he was – was even awake at this hour.

  
“Keita?” Thaniel whispered into the dark room. When no answer came Thaniel hoped that Mori was actually asleep, instead of ignoring him because he was angry.

  
A moment later he could hear the rustling of sheets, and then a soft orange glow flooded the room. Mori had turned on one of his little night lights (most of them were for Six), which was just as intricate and beautiful as his clockwork. It was a little golden tree, fine twigs and leaves making it look like you could find a hundred different details in the treetop. The fruits, Thaniel supposed they were either apples or pears, were glowing in the same way Mori’s fairies always do. The orange light reminded Thaniel of candles.

  
“I’m sorry, did I wake you? I could go if you want,” Thaniel said as he stepped into the room. He wanted to tread very carefully, assuming that he had not yet ruined this…something, he certainly did not want to make it worse. Mori turned fully to him, rubbing slightly at his eyes.  
“No, no, it’s fine. I couldn’t sleep either.”

  
When he finally looked up into his eyes Thaniel’s heart sank. He hoped the red colour and slightly puffed area around Mori’s eyes was from sleeplessness, and not crying. He went into the room to sit down next to him. Neither of them said anything for some time, not finding the right words, or not having the guts to say them; they sat in silence.

  
“I think I will…make some tea. Maybe it helps with sleep,” Thaniel said and went down into the kitchen.

  
He felt a little like a coward, running away from the situation, but talking about one’s feeling was considerably harder than he had initially thought. Boiling water and getting out the cups reserved for tea was such a familiar task that it calmed him down a little bit. That was, until he heard quiet sniffling from the room upstairs, forming sad-looking blue and grey specs in front of his eyes. The tea was forgotten immediately as Thaniel raced up the stairs, not even trying to be quiet, even though Six was still sleeping. As he came to a halt in Mori’s room, he could see him rub his sleeves over his eyes to dry the tears still flowing down his face.  
Thaniel was still trying to process the picture in front of him, as Mori noticed him standing in the room.

  
“I’m—I’m so sorry,” Mori sniffled, giving up on trying to look as if nothing was wrong.

  
Thaniel was next to him in an instant, hugging Mori tight to his chest. He tried to think about what was helpful while calming someone down, but the only thing he could remember from his sister and her sons was that she used to rub their backs when they were crying. So that was what he did. Making slow circles, a calming rhythm.

  
_Up. Down. Up. Down._

  
“Why are you apologizing?” Thaniel asked after Mori’s breathing was slow and deep again. Mori moved a little, so they weren’t hugging anymore, but their shoulders were still touching and Thaniel’s hand remained on Mori’s back.

  
“I never—” Mori tried to clear his throat, “I never want to make you feel…less. Less than what you are, less than you deserve,” he took a deep breath, “and I think today I did. I made you feel like you would be less of yourself without me.”  
“That’s not true,” Thaniel tried to intervene.  
“Isn’t it?” Mori moved a little away from Thaniel.

  
“You didn’t know whether you were the brilliant pianist, or I was. It is you, by the way. All of those tunes, all of those songs, they are yours. I have never composed anything in my life, let alone something this _good_.”  
Mori seemed like he wanted Thaniel desperately to understand this simple truth; that he would be still himself without Mori. But that had never been Thaniel’s fear, it had been Grace’s. Thaniel becoming an ordinary clockwork piece in Mori’s house, devoid of thought and all that made him special.

  
“I know you didn’t mean it like that,” Thaniel said.  
“I was just—angry. I was very, very angry and then I just snapped. At the one person I never want to snap at,” Thaniel laughed humourlessly. He put his hand over Mori’s and squeezed gently.

  
“I’m the one who’s sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things. I’m sorry I made you pay for my bad day,” he smiled, “sometimes it’s just not easy to live with someone who…already knows everything.”

“I do not know everything,” Mori whispered, “sometimes I feel like I know almost nothing, or that everything I know isn’t even real. They’re just…fragments of the future, and oftentimes I forget them. And then there’s nothing.”  
Thaniel squeezed his hand a little tighter. He turned Mori’s head so that he was able to look him in the eyes. He thought, at that moment, that Mori had never looked more human and more vulnerable than in that night. His eyes were still red from crying, now even more so, and he had the distinct look of someone who hoped desperately that they hadn’t ruined something precious.

  
“There’s still you,” Thaniel said and touched Mori’s cheek, “you’re still Keita Mori, a wonderful, brilliant watchmaker, who makes the best tea in England and creates octopi who steal socks and adopts little orphans from factories. Even with the things you forget, you’re still…my favourite.”  
Thaniel tried not to blush. He didn’t have a lot of practice in talking about his feelings, so he wasn’t quite sure if he did it right, but from the way Mori smiled, he supposed he did alright.

  
So Thaniel placed a gentle kiss on Mori’s mouth and arranged them so that they lay next to each other in Mori’s bed. His chest was pressed to Mori’s back, his arms tightly embracing the other man. Thaniel felt how sleep wrapped itself like a blanket around him, dragging him slowly into unconsciousness. The last thing he heard was a soft “goodnight” before he succumbed to his desire for rest.

…

Thaniel woke up with one of the most satisfying feelings in the world: knowing that he didn’t have to work that day. He didn’t always have the luxury of getting the weekend off, but this time he was lucky.

  
As the soft cotton feeling of sleep slowly receded, Thaniel remembered the night before. Yelling at Mori and making up after. He was still hugging Keita’s body, feeling the other in his arms, sleep-warm and breathing evenly.  
Thaniel did his best to disentangle himself from his partner without waking him, which was harder than it sounds, considering that Mori sometimes woke because of things that hadn’t even happened, yet. Maybe he had enough practice with getting Katsu off his body, but he was able to get up from the bed without disturbing Mori’s sleep.

  
With a last kiss on his partner’s head, Thaniel went downstairs to prepare breakfast. He could already see Six exploring the garden through the kitchen window, chasing the little fairies and fireflies Mori had made for her. He had to smile as the thought about Mori’s relationship with Six. Even though he said he didn’t like children, Thaniel had never seen someone be so thoughtful of someone else’s needs and wants. He always bought her favourite pastries, built her little clockwork trinkets and comforted her after nightmares.

  
Leaving the tea on the kitchen table, Thaniel sat down at the piano and began to play. First his fingers just danced across the keys, no real pattern, no real intent. But after a short time, a melody began to form, first in his head then transferred to his fingers.

  
The colours appearing in the room were a dark forest green, together with deep purples just like the pansies Thaniel saw the other day. Gentle golden glimpses began to weave themselves into the painting only Thaniel could see. The melody was far more serious than what Mori had played the day before, but at the same time, it was no less beautiful. A complex melody, changing from tranquil to a happy light-hearted part, just as Mori came down the stairs. He still looked dishevelled from sleeping, hair in disarray and clothes hanging a little crooked on his body.

“What are you playing?” he asked when he came to the bottom stairs.  
“Something new,” Thaniel answered, still smiling.

  
Mori looked at him, his brow a little creased, but Thaniel had no intention to say what he was thinking just now, so his clairvoyant would not get any more information from staring at him.  
“What did you think about?” Mori looked at him from the corner of his eyes, “while composing it, I mean.”  
Thaniel smiled again, thinking about whether he should answer that question.  
The splashes of gold became more prominent.

“I—”  
“I’m hungry!” Six yelled from the kitchen.  
She apparently had become bored of running through the garden, so now she demanded their full attention.  
“Coming,” said Thaniel. Getting up from the little chair he sneaked a feather-light kiss from Mori’s lips, before preparing breakfast for the three of them.

This melody would stay with Mori forever.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked my slightly angsty approach to my babies at Filigree Street :)  
> I love all of them (Six and Katsu included) to death, but I also wanted to make something that seemed like a real (shit) day in their lives.  
> The sequel is amazing, by the way. So if you want to read more of them, you should read that!


End file.
